Rabies: Cooperation needed in New Milford

News-Times, The (Danbury, CT)

Published
8:00 pm EDT, Thursday, August 21, 2008

But efforts to catch feral cats at the complex have been met with resistance. Cats caught in traps are being released.

"I think we are running into a little opposition from people who are letting cats out of traps," said Audrey McKay, the regional animal control officer. "They are risking their health because they don't know if these cats have rabies."

Rabies is a serious problem. A rabid animal is a danger to humans and other animals. Without treatment, the rabies virus will attack the central nervous system and cause encephalopathy and ultimately death.

The Aug. 13 incident brought quick action. Town health officials immediately warned Sunny Valley residents to stay away from the sizeable population of feral cats at the complex and to keep their own pets indoors. Then the traps were put around the complex.

Because an animal may not display rabies symptoms for more than a month after it is infected, animal control officials are destroying the cats caught in their traps.

Saving the cats from that fate is probably the motivation for releasing them, but the residents who are doing that are endangering other animals, themselves and their neighbors.

Residential complexes like Sunny Valley sometimes become a haven for feral and abandoned cats. People feed them and the population grows. It's a problem that tugs at the heartstrings.

Nevertheless, Sunny Valley is in the middle of an emergency and should respond appropriately. Residents should cooperate with health and animal control officials to trap the cats.